


In loco parentis

by rexdaemoniorum



Series: Teufel Law [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Boy King of Hell Sam Winchester, Demon Sam Winchester, Demon Summoning, Gen, Lawyer Sam Winchester, Sam Winchester is Jack Kline's Parent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2020-01-04 21:57:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18352490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rexdaemoniorum/pseuds/rexdaemoniorum
Summary: The king of Hell maintains his law business under the fake alias Alan Teufel, and a familiar customer comes in to inform him of a stranger who appeared out of nowhere- and is looking for Sam Winchester.





	In loco parentis

“Can you even read that in the dark?”

 

Alan looked up from the document in his hands to see the demon by the wall who posed the question.

 

“Pardon?”

 

“The lights are off. Can you even see what that says?”

 

He swivelled around in his chair, gesturing to the window with a sunbeam streaming adjacently onto his desk. “Well, it’s-.. yeah. Listen, I enjoy the natural light. Makes it more calming. And pleasant.”

 

Alan usually had some lackeys present with him to serve as witnesses and bodyguards. Sometimes they were chatty, and this particular one was no exception. “I guess, but.. I’d say some might find it a little ominous. You know, you’re—,” he ambled over to the desk and sat in the chair facing his boss, taking on the role of the client. “—You’re all backlit from this angle, Your Majesty. Very unsettling. Not complaining, though. It’s ideal. At least for the right clientele, if you get me.”

 

Waving him off with one hand, Alan placed the paper in a drawer to his left. “Eh, perhaps. A-also, you.. I suggest you get out of the habit of calling me ‘Your Majesty’, alright? If you slip up in front of someone, that’d be  _ pretty  _ awkward, wouldn’t it..?” He waited for the demon’s strained shrug before continuing. “Try ‘Mr. Teufel’, alright? We’re not trying to arouse suspicion, here.”

 

“Well, in all fairness,  _ Mr. Teufel _ , with your already achieved notoriety, there’s.. bound to be suspicion. Hunters.. old colleagues.. etymology specialists.. I mean, your name, for starters—,”

 

“Oh, please, I have this discussion every day. What’s  _ your  _ name, anyway?”

 

“Murmur.”

 

His eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he processed the answer, whispering it under his breath, then was hit with guilt when his henchman gave him a look of surprise.

 

“Ah. Hm. Uh.. Murphy. You’re Murphy, now.” He clapped his hands together with a grin, goading him with his eyes to return the expression. The newly anointed demon gave him a hamfisted smile. The awkward exchange was interrupted by the message coming from reception.

 

_ Uh, Mr. Teufel? _

 

She paused for a brief second, and another man’s faint voice could be heard briefly.

 

_ Neil, is here. Again, did not schedule, _ her attitude dripped from her words,  _ so it’s up to you to let him in. He says it’s an emergency this time. _

 

Alan was staring at Murmur with pure discontent. He jabbed the button with a stiff finger, not breaking eye contact.

 

“Send him in. Tell him he’s got three minutes.” He released the button and grumbled to Murmur, “I can’t stand this guy.”

 

Neil’s footsteps grew louder and louder until he was at the door, hesitantly walking in with a cough. Murmur straightened up and played his part, not very intimidating when the customer was a couple inches taller.

 

To Alan, Neil had always been a nuisance; a fly on his shoulder that he didn’t care enough to swat. He was alive out of mercy, and that thought was clearly on the man’s mind. His demeanor was drastically different since Alan had made his intentions clear. 

 

Something in him wished all hunters were like Neil. Like the ones in the wild. Even the strongest hunters were no match for the apex predator.

 

“Thanks for having me, Alan,” Neil grumbled through a husky, gravelly voice.

 

“Yup,” Alan quipped briefly, not looking up to face him. “What can I do for you?” 

 

“Well uh, we’re not too sure exactly what this thing is. We’re thinking you might have an idea—,”

 

“Neil, you can’t just run to me the second you don’t kn—“

 

“No, S— Alan, Alan, it.. we’re pretty sure it’s got something to do with you.”

 

The king’s eyebrows shot up and he cocked his head. “ _ Me? _ ” He leaned in, and the customer immediately sank backwards into his seat. 

 

“Y-yeah. The thing is, it’s looking for you. Asking where you are, and..”

 

Now, Alan’s interest was piqued. He pondered the thought for a second before rearranging the things on his desk.

 

“Alright, I’ve got nothing scheduled for tomorrow,” he reached over to a small holder and handed Neil a card. It had his contact info- and a peculiar symbol emblazoned on the opposite side. “When you light the flame to summon me, throw this in there.”

 

“Does it not work without this?” Neil fumbled it in his hands. The symbol even had a glossy finish. Fancy.

 

“Nah. I’m not obligated to show up anytime someone summons me. But with that, I know that it’s on business matters.”

 

“Interesting,” Neil mumbled.

 

“Use it tomorrow, we’ll talk more about this..” he gestured vaguely with his hands, “..this whatever. Murmur, show him out.”

 

Murmur took a step towards the seated client and he shot up, stumbling back.

 

“No, no, I-.. I got it. Door’s- door’s this way,” he nearly choked on his words as he saw himself out. “Thank you, Alan. See you tomorrow.”

 

Upon the man’s exit, Murmur turned back to Alan with a puzzled look. 

 

“What do you think that was all about?” He asked, and the king simply shrugged it off.

 

“Honestly..? Not sure. But it’s never safe to go by myself to one of these things. You mind coming along?”

 

“Oh-- uh..” Murmur had been caught off guard by the proposal, but figured he’d seem selfish or disinterested if he refused. “Sure. H-how do I know when he’s gonna summon for you? What if I’m busy?”

 

Alan’s smile grew sly.

 

“Don’t be.”

* * *

Neil headed into the dark garage and set up the summoning materials before pulling the business card out of his pocket. It was almost too nice to set fire to. Perhaps that was part of the gimmick. 

 

Dropping it into the bowl, he stepped back as the flame flared up. In about ten seconds Alan appeared in the blink of an eye, and two more demons flanked him. It only made sense the king would travel with an entourage. But Neil knew at this point it would only serve as another intimidation tactic. Even after threatening him within an inch of his life, he didn’t seem to plan on easing up. One of the two demons was short and stout with a receding hairline, and the other was taller and had a head full of dreadlocks.

 

“Neil.” Alan began with an air of elegance. “Quite the meeting place.” He glanced around the garage, taking note of the dilapidated car and various scattered tools.

 

The hunter scooched the smoldering bowl aside with his foot. “It’s a fire hazard, man, I’m not doing this shit in my living room. Come on, let’s go inside.”

 

The hunter walked them through a narrow hallway, where they proceeded single-file until it opened up into a foyer, with a shoddy couch covered in age stains and a coffee table with some scattered cans. Immediately upon entering, the dreadlocked demon to Alan’s left sputtered into a laugh.

 

“Wow, okay. When you mentioned your living room, you made it sound like it was too nice to risk getting some ash or scorch marks on it. This is a shithole!”

 

“Honestly,” the other demon, Murmur, added, “I think some hellfire would really lighten the place up.” 

 

Neil’s face turned beet red as the demons cackled amongst themselves.

 

“I have the boy in question here.” He said, and they rightfully shut up. “I let him stay with me under the agreement that I’d have you here today.”

 

“Boy?” Alan asked, his eyebrows raising as if he misheard. But it wasn’t an unlikely situation. Many young children were caught in the crossfire of hunting, and though it wasn’t often, he would offer help and protection whenever possible. However, Neil didn’t bother to further elaborate.

 

“Let me get him. Take a seat.” And with that, he left and headed up the stairs. The demons glanced around and awkwardly placed themselves on the crappy couch. Alan remained standing.

 

“This better be worth my time. He’s always wasting it,” he grumbled, before he heard two sets of footsteps approaching, and turned to the door from which Neil had exited.

 

The boy who entered with him appeared to be in his twenties, but something about him was childlike. He had light, combed over hair and a cherubic face. At the sight of the group entering the room, his eyes lit up with a certain friendliness expected of an old friend- but he was unfamiliar. As a person, and as a creature. He thrummed with the poise of an angel, yet did not seem to radiate the grace or the putrid arrogance the king always hated them for. The boy quickly rushed to meet them.

 

“Sam!” Was the first word out of his mouth. 

 

It seemed the jig was up. There was no use in calling him Alan, since they weren’t in the presence of anyone who didn’t know the king’s true identity.

 

The demons rushed to their feet and Murmur held out a hand to maintain the distance, the stranger’s smile fading in the blink of an eye. Had it not been his their quick thinking, Sam, caught off guard, would have been pulled into an unsuspecting hug.

 

“Yeah, he.. he knew your real name. I never said it to him,” Neil piped up from the corner and refused to make eye contact when Sam briefly turned to him. He tapped Murmur’s shoulder and the short demon stepped back.

 

“Who are you?” He asked, unable to help but notice how the boy looked in his eyes, as if enamored by the way they looked. Though yellow like a cat’s, they glowed and flickered like something was moving just below the surface of his pupils. Something alive. Something sinister.

 

“Well, I guess we never met in  _ this _ place,” the boy answered bashfully. “My name is Jack. I’m, uh, from an alternate universe. And where I’m from,” his rosy smile returned and he gestured to the man standing before him, “..you’re my dad.”

 

Murmur and Martis watched intensely as Sam registered Jack’s answer, and even they found themselves surprised when the king seemed unimpressed at the revelation. Kids were not a taboo concept to Sam, but he always knew they were a responsibility he’d lost the time and care for years ago. The yellow-eyed king peered into the young man’s face as if he were an old-fashioned sleuth.

 

“Now, how did that happen..?” He mused, his voice heavy with doubt, before exchanging a perplexed glance with Martis. His closest demons probably knew the most about his stance on things like marriage or kids; the possibility of either was long behind him.

 

Jack stepped back a half-inch after realizing the boundaries he was overstepping. He looked down and scratched his head. “I..” His voice was much quieter this time around. “Well, my real father is Lucifer. My mother was human.” 

 

Immediately, Murmur felt a wave of hostility emanating from Sam at the mention of the Devil’s name. Suddenly, the strange nature of this creature had become clear. He was a nephilim. Martis reached up and grabbed his shoulder as if on reflex. Even Jack instantly regretted saying anything. It was as if everybody in the room could hear the king’s teeth grinding, and his eyes narrowed into slits before Jack piped up to say one last thing.

 

“A-and you saw past that, Sam. You were the one who taught me that I can still be good..” His voice cracked, as if there was someone inside of the king he was trying to reach. “Sam.. you’re the only one who gave me a chance.”

 

Sam eyed the boy like he was deciding his fate. And he could very well have been. He blinked twice and tilted his head before asking, “..and what happened to  _ that _ Sam?”

 

“He’s fine, I-I mean..” Jack hesitated, “I used my powers after I had an argument with Dean.. is Dean here?”

 

After quelling the flame that burned within Sam at the mention of Lucifer, it was rekindled with another name just as easily. But this time, that anger didn’t seem to be directed at the one who spoke it. As opposed to simply replying, Sam gravely shook his head no with a cold grimace on his face.

 

“Oh..” the nephilim trailed off. “H-heh, well, I wasn’t hoping to run into him. That’s good.” He sheepishly glanced at the men standing at his sides. “What.. what are you up to then, Sam?”

 

The seconds following the question seemed like an eternity. The king leaned in to the visitor, before lifting a large, menacing hand and placing it on his shoulder.

 

“Come with us. I’ll show you,” he paused before grinning, “..Jack.”

* * *

The doors to the throne room swung open and the party of four entered. Many demons were already present, randomly dispersed among the torch-lit pillars, eyeing the king’s guest as they spoke. 

 

“You’re the king of Hell?” Jack gasped, watching Sam proceed to his throne and take a seat in the monumental looking seat at the end of the hall. The nephilim, unaware of where to stand, placed himself awkwardly in front of him.

 

“Yeah. Pretty sure it’s something your dad wouldn’t be very proud of.” He put his chin in his hand.

 

“Well.. if it wasn’t something you would do, then.. you wouldn’t do it. I-if that makes sense,” chuckled Jack. 

 

From the shadows and crevices of the jagged stone walls crept figures that made Jack stumble back in surprise. Upon closer inspection, he understood them to be hellhounds, and returned his gaze to Sam.

 

“You like dogs too, I guess?” He asked in an attempt to hide his brief moment of fear. Sam looked down at them as they sniffed at their guest. 

 

“Pet them,” Sam replied. “They’re friendly.”

 

Jack hesitantly knelt down, almost feeling a wave of regret submerging him as he noticed how the hounds were much larger than him when he was sitting. One of them lowered its head and returned the eye contact tenfold, its multitudes of glowing red eyes all focused on him. He reached out his hand to place it gently on its muzzle, and it opened its mouth and licked his fingers with a long wet tongue. The other hound shouldered it out of the way and rubbed against his touch. Its mouth was stretched and extended to the base of its neck, and it held it shut with a few intact patches of muscle. 

 

“Seems they really like you, Jack.”

 

Looking at him from over the dogs’ looming figures, Jack could see Sam glancing peculiarly at him from atop the throne.

 

“What did Dean say to you? That set you off?” He asked, leaning forward and snapping his fingers, which seemed to be a signal for the dogs to lay down. “..If you feel comfortable sharing, that is--”

 

“No, no, Sam, it’s okay.” Jack’s heart ached thinking back on the words exchanged, but he didn’t mind sharing with Sam. Even if it wasn’t  _ his _ Sam. “..He threatened to kill me. He said I was a monster and it was his job to take care of things like me.” He noticed Sam nodding slowly as he spoke, like it was something he’d heard before.

 

“Dean’s the same. No matter what universe, he’s the same. And he’ll never change.” He looked back up to Jack, his eyes gleaming especially bright for the distance between them. With the advice he was giving, it felt like he was talking to his own Sam. It seemed the advice he gave concerning his brother applied to himself as well. “There’s something it took me a very long time to learn,” he stood up and walked over to kneel down beside him. “..And it’s that being human, and being good.. are not the same thing.”

 

That was a thought that hadn’t even occurred to Jack yet. Thinking on it now, it probably wasn’t something his own Sam knew about.

 

“I’ve met some humans just as monstrous as vampires, or demons. And some monsters that don’t want to hurt innocent people.” Sam’s catlike eyes narrowed as his tone grew sinister. “Dean will never understand that.”

 

Jack didn’t want to believe Sam was better off without Dean, but that’s the way it seemed. He was confident, assertive.. and not at the expense of his kinder, gentler side. Maybe Jack would be better off as well.

* * *

Soon after, Sam decided he’d show Jack around his law office.

 

“I don’t know if it’s the same with your Sam, but I originally wanted to be a lawyer.”

 

“Wow, really?” Jack asked with intrigue like that of a child. He followed Sam’s long strides up the stairs with upbeat steps, as if he were a duckling following a.. well, not a duck. “No, he never told me that. But it makes sense.”

 

They arrived at the proper floor and exited the stairwell into the office lobby, their feet greeted with fine wool carpeting.

 

“Good morning, sir,” a lady seated at reception greeted them. “Who’s this?”

 

Sam put his hands on the boy’s shoulders as if presenting him. “This is Jack. He’s my guest for today.” Taking off his hands, he gestured to the woman and introduced her. “Jack, this is Penemuel. But we call her Penny around here.”

 

“Because that’s how much he pays me,” she teased, and the king immediately began to sputter at the comment.

 

“Sam, you have to pay her more!” Jack remarked with complete sincerity.

 

Penny chuckled as Sam struggled to make a rebuttal. “I’m messing with him.”

 

They waved at her as they proceeded down the hall. “Forward any messages received to me,” Sam instructed with a smile. When they arrived at his room, he opened the door and let Jack in before closing the door behind them. Two large pots with blooming peace lilies neighbored the corners by the wall, and all the furniture was made of polished, sleek walnut wood.

 

“So, what exactly do you do as a lawyer?” Jack asked, eyeing the drawers like he was itching to open them. Sam picked up on his body language and opened them up, revealing multiple batches of roots, plants, jars with teeth and bones, and other arcane looking items.

 

“Specifically hunter and monster related cases. These are ingredients for spells and hexes of all kinds. I focus on helping protect innocent monsters and establishing agreements between hunters and my demons.” He closed the drawer with spell ingredients and opening the next, which had contracts and paperwork of all kinds. “These are spells too, just not as obvious. As opposed to legally binding, they’re more.. supernaturally binding.”

 

“That’s cool!” Jack said, coming closer and leaning in to look at the contents of his office. “I think my Sam would think it is, too.” He added, glancing back up at him with a beaming grin. The king looked aside and returned the gesture with a less genuine smile.

 

“Yeah, maybe.” Sam didn’t believe it. He’d been through a lot to get to this point; and he wasn’t sure that Jack’s dad had to overcome the same hurdles. After a brief silence, Sam swallowed a lump in his throat. “When are you going to go back to him?”

 

His guest blinked in confusion and shuffled in place. “I.. I don’t know. Am I overstaying my welcome?” 

 

Sam stopped what he was doing to face him and make sure he was coming off as completely honest. “It’s not that. But.. what if your Sam misses you?” 

 

Jack’s brows furrowed as if physically pained by the thought, and seemed to be unable to answer the question. Unable to even begin to form words.

 

“If you go, I’ll miss you too. It’s been wonderful getting to know you, Jack. But I’ll be okay.” He attempted to lighten the mood by cracking a more earnest smile. “You can deal with Dean together.”

 

Chuckling and nodding, Jack was comforted by the remark. “You’re right. And.. it’s not a permanent decision.. maybe.. maybe I can come back.” He contemplated. Sam patted his shoulder and pulled him into a hug. When they parted, Jack falteringly turned to the wall and slowly raised a hand. His eyes began to glow a bright gold around the irises, which briefly caught Sam’s attention before a bright portal began to open on the wall, shifting and morphing in its place. The nephilim stepped forward, ready to leave, before stopping to turn back to Sam with one last, teary eyed smile. 

 

“Thank you, Sam.” 

 

Sam kept his composure and took a deep breath, managing to keep the tears from forming.

 

“Thank  _ you,  _ Jack.”

 

With that, the boy entered the portal and it lingered for a few seconds before disappearing, leaving everything the way it was. Sam seated himself in the chair behind him with a deep breath and he felt his heart ache in a way it hadn’t for ages.

 

He had sent the mysterious boy off with a promise that he’d be fine without the company of what was apparently his own son. And truthfully, he was.. but if there weren’t an incarnation of himself elsewhere who needed Jack’s companionship more, he wouldn’t hesitate to let him stick around.


End file.
